Eight months ago, Christine Gladue made a decision to transform her life.
Today, she's in the best shape of her life.
This weekend, the 41-year-old from Prince George will compete in the Western Canadian Body Building Challenge in Kelowna in the masters bikini division.
It's the first time she's ever stepped onto the stage in a body building event.
"I decided eight months ago to do this, it's been quite the journey," said Gladue, a corrections officer. "I went from 25 per cent body fat down to 11 per cent and I'm in the best shape I've been in my life. It's been my dream, I've always wanted to do this, but with kids and work I thought, you know what, I can do this."
Gladue, a five-foot-eight, 135-pound married mother of two, used to be a runner who lived on 800 calories a day and was a self-professed cardio junkie. But the more she ran, the more fat she put on.
Her trainer, Lori Mork from Team Energy in Maple Ridge, told her to start weightlifting to build muscle as well as consume 4,500 calories per day.
Mork herself is an accomplished body building trainer and competitor.
"I spent the first four months building muscle and my diet is one gram of protein per pound to keep my metabolism up," Gladue said. "It was amazing, I just started eating again, six meals per day. It's like if you turn a furnace off, you're not going to burn anything. But if you space your meals out, you'll burn fat."
Her intense exercise regime included working out six days per week, focusing on her legs, core and upper body, as well as sprint training. One day a week, she did a "glute blast" that included 300 leg presses and scissor jumps.
"I feel strong, mentally as well," said Gladue who had to juggle working out with her stressful career and her family, which includes an 18-year-old daughter and a 19-year-old son. "Never in my life have I felt like this. There's been a lot of challenges along the way, but no matter how hard it was, I stuck with it.
"Working out, I needed to have an outlet. If you focus on your health, all areas in your life will be balanced."
In the process, she lost 18 pounds and cut her calories to 2,500 which includes one cheat meal per week.
The Western Canadian Body Building Challenge begins Friday with a weigh-in and spray-tanning session.
Saturday, Gladue will be up bright and early at 5 a.m. for hair and makeup. The show starts at 9 a.m. The masters class is for women between 35 and 45 years old.
"We'll come out then and it's a pre-judged round where we're put next to each other and compared," said Gladue, who attended a recent show in Vancouver as a spectator. "The judges will pull out the top five for the big show at 6 p.m. We do more of a pose and not a flex [of our muscles.]
"I'm more excited about it now and pretty proud. I really want to do it now."
She added she had to leap over the mental hurdle of being judged in a competition. But her transformation gave her the confidence that she could do it.
"As women, we don't like being judged and I'm taking a huge risk," she said. "Now I've gotten over it and I'm doing this for the right reasons. I had this goal, I focussed on it and met everything."
No matter where Gladue places, she's looking forward to indulging in a few treats afterwards she couldn't have during her strict diet.
"I haven't had a chocolate bar in eight months," she said. "I love those Lindor balls and cheesecake. I'm looking forward to not being under the gun."
The top three advance to the B.C. championships.
